Fantasy Points Source

Fantasy Points Fantasy Football artwork

VideoFrom Fantasy Points Fantasy Football

Sigmund Bloom's 2026 Fantasy Football Values and Fades (Ultimate Vibe Check)

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.

1 hr 22 min

Duration

Estimated from transcript

Aug 25, 2026

Published

Tue, August 25, 2026

45

Player insights

44

Players mentioned

Topics

Marlin KleinAllen LazardBaker MayfieldBreece HallBrevin JordanBrock BowersCade StoverCam AkersChase BrownChris OlaveChristian McCaffreyChuba HubbardD.J. MooreDalton Kincaid

Player analysis

Player insights

45

Allen Lazard

NegativeValue35:03

Sig Bloom notes that while Allen Lazard is a fit for the Texans' needs, the likelihood of a trade remains low due to competitive dynamics; he is viewed as a big-bodied receiver rather than a highly skilled one.

Baker Mayfield

NegativeInjury42:14

Sig Bloom points out that Baker Mayfield played with a severely bruised throwing arm that was never officially listed on the injury report, illustrating the lack of transparency regarding player health. Bloom also cites Mayfield as an example of a player who should have sat out due to injury rather than attempting to play through it, referencing his time with the Browns.

Breece Hall

NegativeInjury45:37

Sig Bloom notes that players who miss training camp time due to injury and are labeled as 'ready for week one' are statistically more likely to be underachievers rather than overachievers, specifically citing Breece Hall, Luther Burden, and Kyle Monangai as examples.

Brevin Jordan

PositiveInjury35:31

Sig Bloom reports that Brevin Jordan is currently healthy, which may lead the Texans to utilize more 12 and 13 personnel sets.

Brock Bowers

PositiveValue5:08

Sig Bloom considers Brock Bowers a layup pick in the second round, particularly in PPR formats, though he believes the value holds in non-PPR as well. Note: Bloom also mentioned Bowers as an example of a player whose effectiveness was negatively impacted by playing through injury last season.

Cade Stover

PositiveDepth Chart35:33

Sig Bloom notes that the Texans coaching staff likes Cade Stover, who is expected to be part of their tight end rotation as the team looks to increase usage of 12 and 13 personnel.

Cam Akers

NegativeValue17:12

Sig Bloom references Cam Akers as a player whose ADP was impacted by team personnel changes, highlighting the volatility of market expectations.

Chase Brown

PositiveValue37:02

Sig Bloom identifies Chase Brown as a running back with tantalizing upside in the second round of fantasy drafts.

Chris Olave

PositiveValue5:16

Sig Bloom frequently targets Chris Olave in the third round of drafts.

Christian McCaffrey

NegativeProjection40:14

Sig Bloom uses Christian McCaffrey as the benchmark for elite running back production, noting that players with massive single-game performances are often compared to his standard.

Chuba Hubbard

NegativeInjury44:04

Sig Bloom notes that Chuba Hubbard returned to play two weeks after a calf injury but did not feel like himself for another eight weeks, which contributed to him losing his starting job to Rico Dowdle.

D.J. Moore

PositiveValue5:22

Sig Bloom frequently targets DJ Moore in the fifth round of drafts, citing the quarterback's commitment to feeding him targets. Josh Allen has explicitly stated an intention to continue targeting Moore heavily until defenses prove they can stop it.

Dalton Kincaid

PositiveUsage5:36

Sig Bloom suggests drafting a second tight end in PPR leagues to use as a flex, arguing that Dalton Kincaid is as viable a flex option as available wide receivers in that draft range.

Dalton Schultz

NegativeRole35:43

Sig Bloom identifies Dalton Schultz as the primary tight end for the Texans, noting that the team's reliance on 12 and 13 personnel may impact the overall offensive ceiling.

David Montgomery

PositiveValue5:21

Sig Bloom is high on David Montgomery, viewing him as a superior fantasy pick to Saquon Barkley and a perfect bellcow fit for the Texans' offense. Bloom cites the team's commitment to the run, strong defense, and improved offensive line as key factors, projecting a potential 25-carry, 110-yard, one-touchdown game against Buffalo. Bloom notes that the Jaden Higgins injury will likely force more 12/13 personnel, benefiting Montgomery. Conversely, Bloom explicitly states Montgomery is not a second-round value.

Derrick Henry

PositiveValue41:14

Sig Bloom argues that Derrick Henry is a superior draft pick compared to unproven players because he has already established his production floor and ceiling.

DeVonta Smith

NegativeInjury31:44

Sig Bloom notes that DeVonta Smith is already dealing with a hamstring issue and questions whether his body can withstand the physical punishment required by his role as a route runner throughout the season.

Emeka Egbuka

NegativeInjury52:04

Sig Bloom highlights Emeka Egbuka as a case study for the dangers of playing through injury; despite medical advice to sit for 2-3 weeks, he played through it and remained at roughly 60% capacity for the remainder of the season.

Gabriel Davis

PositiveInjury58:30

Sig Bloom mentions Gabe Davis as a potential trade target for the Texans, but notes that he is currently dealing with an injury.

George Kittle

PositiveUsage5:36

Sig Bloom suggests drafting a second tight end in PPR leagues to use as a flex, arguing that George Kittle is as viable a flex option as available wide receivers in that draft range.

Jakobi Meyers

NegativeUsage7:05

Sig Bloom references Jakobi Meyers to illustrate a player's understanding of their role, noting that Meyers acknowledges his target share may fluctuate but emphasizes the importance of his job performance.

James Cook

PositiveValue4:45

Sig Bloom targets James Cook in the second half of the first round, noting that running back value is solidifying as preseason injuries occur.

Javonte Williams

PositiveValue5:16

Sig Bloom frequently targets Javonte Williams in the third round of drafts.

Jayden Higgins

NegativeInjury20:14

Sig Bloom confirms Jaden Higgins is out for the season, noting that his injury forces the Texans into more 12 and 13 personnel groupings; Bloom also warns that dynasty value is dampened by such training camp injuries.

Joe Mixon

PositiveProjection18:55

Sig Bloom ranks Joe Mixon as the RB6, noting that the market initially undervalued him upon his trade to the Texans, but he is now viewed as a strong fit for the team's mentality.

Jonah Coleman

PositiveDepth Chart42:55

Sig Bloom suggests that the coaching staff's comments indicate they view Jonah Coleman as their running back of the future, potentially signaling a rise on the depth chart.

Kayshon Boutte

PositiveValue57:27

Sig Bloom acknowledges Kayshon Boutte as a logical trade target for the Texans, though he expresses doubt that a Super Bowl-contending team would trade a player to them.

Kenneth Walker III

PositiveValue37:05

Sig Bloom identifies Kenneth Walker III as a running back with tantalizing upside in the second round of fantasy drafts.

Kyle Monangai

NegativeInjury45:37

Sig Bloom notes that players who miss training camp time due to injury and are labeled as 'ready for week one' are statistically more likely to be underachievers rather than overachievers, specifically citing Kyle Monangai, Luther Burden, and Breece Hall as examples.

Kyle Pitts

PositiveUsage5:36

Sig Bloom suggests drafting a second tight end in PPR leagues to use as a flex, arguing that Kyle Pitts is as viable a flex option as available wide receivers in that draft range.

Ladd McConkey

NegativeInjury40:31

Sig Bloom and Greg Rosenthal report that Ladd McConkey suffered an injury in August that hindered him throughout the 2025 season, effectively making it a lost year for the receiver. Bloom further compares McConkey's disappointing 2025 performance to Jaxon Smith-Njigba's struggles, using JSN as a benchmark for a player failing to meet expectations.

Lamar Jackson

NegativeBust50:25

Sig Bloom identifies Lamar Jackson as a player who, once an injury occurs, must be viewed as a different, less effective player for the remainder of the season.

Luther Burden

NegativeInjury45:37

Sig Bloom notes that players who miss training camp time due to injury and are labeled as 'ready for week one' are statistically more likely to be underachievers rather than overachievers, specifically citing Luther Burden, Breece Hall, and Kyle Monangai as examples.

Mack Hollins

PositiveValue58:38

Sig Bloom identifies Mack Hollins as a perfect fit for the Texans' roster needs, though he doubts the Patriots would facilitate a trade.

Marlin Klein

NegativeProjection35:34

Sig Bloom describes second-round pick Marlon Klein as an upside project who is projected to serve as an inline tight end.

NegativeBreakout58:55

Sig Bloom describes second-round pick Marlin Klein as an upside project for the Texans, projected to serve as an inline tight end.

Michael Wilson

NegativeRole55:51

Sig Bloom uses Michael Wilson's comments about his role shift—moving from the X receiver position when Marvin Harrison Jr. was out to a different role—to illustrate how player usage is context-dependent.

Najee Harris

NegativeValue17:09

Sig Bloom uses the signing of Najee Harris as an example of a roster move that creates a tangible shift in ADP, illustrating the need for better tools to track ADP trends over time.

Parker Washington

PositiveBreakout6:15

Sig Bloom highlights Parker Washington as a target, noting that the Jaguars found a successful role for him and that reports indicate he is currently operating as the team's number one receiver.

Rico Dowdle

PositiveDepth Chart44:08

Sig Bloom mentions that Rico Dowdle took over the starting role from Chuba Hubbard after Hubbard returned prematurely from a calf injury.

RJ Harvey

NegativeDepth Chart43:34

Sig Bloom notes that RJ Harvey is currently serving as a complement to Jonah Coleman in the team's running back rotation.

Sam LaPorta

PositiveUsage5:36

Sig Bloom suggests drafting a second tight end in PPR leagues to use as a flex, arguing that Sam LaPorta is as viable a flex option as available wide receivers in that draft range.

Saquon Barkley

NegativeProjection15:17

Sig Bloom critiques Saquon Barkley as a 'two-cut' back who lacks the decisiveness for outside zone schemes; Bloom views him as a worse fantasy pick than David Montgomery, citing the loss of offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland and AJ Brown as major concerns.

Tucker Kraft

PositiveUsage5:36

Sig Bloom suggests drafting a second tight end in PPR leagues to use as a flex, arguing that Tucker Kraft is as viable a flex option as available wide receivers in that draft range.

Woody Marks

PositiveUsage35:48

Sig Bloom suggests that Woody Marks could see increased usage in an offense that is expected to run the ball heavily to support a defensive-minded coaching philosophy.

Full transcript

Episode Transcript

807

0:00Fantasy Football Daily. Today we are with Sig Bloom of football. Guys, I've been a longtime fan of Sig Bloom. I'm very excited to have him on the show

0:09today.

0:18>> Sig, we're doing an ultimate vibe check with you. How are you, sir?

0:22>> Great. I mean, this is the time of greatest anticipation. We should every day before the season starts like when's the season going to be here? when he's

0:29going to be here, but really enjoy the anticipation. You know, I think in life, we talk about dopamine. Dopamine isn't something that makes you feel good.

0:37Dopamine is from the anticipation of uncertainty of whether there's going to be a reward or not. So, let's enjoy that. You know, we get dug in with our

0:45takes. Uh but it's the click click click part of the roller coaster and we're, you know, we're going to puke on each

0:50other. We're going to scream, laugh, cry, all those things. Um and at the end, we'll go back to the beginning and

0:56start over like we always do.

0:59I love it. Scott, how are you doing today, man?

1:03>> I'm doing good. Uh, excited to do this show. I got to have the pleasure of hanging out with Sig last week in New

1:09Orleans. He got to show me around his great se city and and and what a great city it is. It's, you know, one of those

1:16rare cities with a soul that like a New York City has, Paris has. And I I don't know that there's too many cities that

1:25have that, but yeah, I had a great time hanging out with Sig and we were in his car and we were, you know, started

1:32talking ball. We talked we talked many things. We talked religion, philosophy, politics. We talked ball as well. And we realized there's a ton we're aligned on this

1:42year. And it's weird, you know, like usually I have a lot of disagreements with the, you know, major analysts in the space, but no, I tons of agreements

1:52with you, with um DBR, with Rich Reebar, with and it's like, yeah, maybe ADP is just really bad this year. And I think

2:01that that is the case. I think it's re my take was that, you know, I'm put shifting the blame to best. You had a a

2:09different take, Sig. Uh, do you want to explain what that was? So, yeah, go ahead.

2:14>> I'm in I'm just talking out of my orphoses like I always do, so I'll qualify it. But I just wonder if the

2:20introduction of AI is creating another layer of group think. And I would guess that under the hood, AI just uses projections for rankings or at least the

2:32least sophisticated way to make rankings is just to do projections, right? and projections don't capture range of outcomes and uh they're very rigid. Um,

2:43so it's a one data point kind of thing.

2:46The ordering, it's not based on the range of outcomes. And then you have this group think, and in general, guys, I think we could do a larger

2:54philosophical discussion about ADP that ADP is inherently backwardlooking.

3:00That ADP is almost like has the residue or or remnants of the bias that people carry forward. um that it's it's

3:10information, but it's not information that should guide our behavior. It's just information about what a behavior will be if everybody thinks that

3:17everybody's going to have the exact mean or median outcome of their season this season. Yeah, I think I think a lot of

3:23the blame is is group think and that's that's partly where I was putting it too is just you know how entrenched you know

3:31the major analysts are looking at best baseball ADP that doesn't really change is fairly static but like this segus perfectly over to like what we saw last

3:40year in the DFS streets and the year before that was with the rise of SIMs you people using SIM tools is yeah kind

3:49of everyone fell into like the same style of play, the same stacks. And so it really made a contrarian approach all that more

4:00effective. Uh but you know, in reddraft today, you you kind of don't have to go too off the rails. It's really just kind

4:06of e easy and obvious. And so Sig, we we agree on on a lot of the same my guys this year, but uh you who are some of

4:15your my guys? Yeah, it's and you're right that it doesn't feel as Don't get me wrong, there's all kinds of uncertainty and ambiguity, but the in

4:26fantasy football looking for places that ADP is off a little bit is, you know, whatever. I mean, we can do that, but

4:33really you want to look for the places where ADP is off a lot. And don't get me wrong, a lot in the first few rounds can

4:38be like five picks. Later on, it might be like two or three rounds off. And just starting in the first round, I

4:45think James Cook is a player like if I draw a second half of the first round spot, I'm looking forward hopefully to

4:52taking James Cook. Uh, and in general, I think that that part of the draft and the running back value, especially with

5:00the running back injuries in preeason, that's going to really solidify. And so then in the second round, you might not want to take a running back. Um, and I I

5:08think Brock Bowers is a layup there. um especially in PPR leagues, but maybe even not in PPR leagues. In the third

5:16round, I find myself taking Javvante Williams or Chris Ave a lot. Um in the fourth round, I find myself taking David

5:22Montgomery a lot, DJ Moore in the fifth round a lot. You know, you just um I'm finding myself taking a second tight end

5:29in PPR leagues with three wide receivers and uh a flex. I think when you're looking at guys like George KD and

5:36Dalton Concade and Sam Leaporta and Tucker Craft and where they're going in drafts, maybe even Kyle Pittz, they're probably as good of a flex as the wide

5:44receivers that are available there. You know, that's something else that I'm seeing as a trend this year. So, uh, it starts to line up and I think that some

5:54of it is just based on the same misgivings or the same misinterpretation of what happened last year and what's coming

6:05this year. Uh, so that it does create a focus on the same players because it seems pretty clear where the group think

6:13is off.

6:15Uh so some of the players we we talked about in the car, one of which was Parker Washington, another was David

6:23Montgomery.

6:24Uh you you want to make for either or both players?

6:29>> Sure. I mean, Parker Washington, look, here's the too long didn't read. Okay.

6:35Um the Jags found something that worked and they're going to keep doing it. And that's before we get into any of the

6:43offseason buzz or the camp buzz. Okay.

6:47Now, every single item, whether it's the observers or the team themselves is saying, "Yeah, Parker Washington looks like the number one receiver." There was

6:56even I'll put a little cherry on the Sunday, guys. There was a Jacobe me Cohen was talking about Jacobe Meyers and he was wanting to put praise on him

7:06and he basically said like Jacobe knows like the ball is not going to come to me but if I am doing my job my job is

7:11important and maybe the ball will come to me.

7:14>> Wow. You know, I mean, look, look guys, this year, and shout out to Greg Branos, of course, and Coach Peak Index this

7:22year, I was talking about on the show yesterday, like insider trading, you know, like we're getting coaches doing insider trading with us. If you're just

7:29listening, like our players, Josh Allen said after hitting DJ Moore three times early in the game this weekend, he said, "We're going to do that every week."

7:39He's telling us every week I'm going to keep throwing to DJ Moore until the team the defense takes it takes it away. I

7:46mean this is not difficult.

7:49>> I love it. I I got a I want to tie this back to ADP a little bit before you get

7:52into Montgomery and we continue watching. What how much do we steer ADP though, Scott and Sig? Like what do you if there's so much fantasy football

8:01content out there if we're all relatively aligned on certain guys this year like a Parker Washington like a David Montgomery like are it seems like

8:08the ADP should come up so why isn't it what what's going on?

8:12>> Well I think that you Go ahead Scott.

8:14You want to take that?

8:15>> No, I was just I I don't know. I I think that's a good question. I I you know every year the Exodas always move up

8:21like multiple rounds but you know even for these guys who are like steady drum beat guys like Parker Washington there's still I don't know it seems sluggish it

8:30seems slow like there's there's not a major move up this year. What What do you think Sig?

8:35>> Well I think that um first of all the default rankings probably drive this to some extent, right? that there are just going to be a

8:46certain percentage of fantasy players that you know this is part of the ADP data that are just looking at the order

8:52on sleeper or whatever. Um and that's going to be slower moving than ADP as far as catching up to you know the

9:00conventional wisdom in the streets. Um, I do wonder and this is a question I can, you know, we'll put out there to

9:06the listeners and the wa the viewers. Is ADP a rolling average? Like when we see ADP, is it only drafts from the last

9:14seven days or something like that? Or is it just the cumulative ADP based on all drafts from the beginning of the 2026

9:20fantasy football season? Cuz if that's the case, the residue of all the old data is still there. So ADP can only

9:27course correct so much, you know, >> right? Um, so I think that there's a question of like I it's funny how we

9:33just accept ADP. I mean at football guys we do like a consensus average across like 13 platforms, you know, that's how

9:40we try to like take out all the vagaries of um ADP. But I think there's a fundamental question of like how is your

9:45ADP calculated that we haven't even asked like some ADPs might actually be calculated different and are supposed to be different?

9:53>> That's a great qu that actually is phenomenal. Well, I know for dynasty leagues like you can there's sources that have like last month ADP, last two

10:01month you can set that criteria but yeah you can't really with some of the sleeper ESPN and Yahoo. is like yeah

10:07what what the ADP they're providing what is that based on is it last two weeks last two months like that's that

10:13actually is a phenomenal >> what would be great for all the vibe coders out there see I shouldn't give away these ideas I should just take sign

10:19football guys is something like a 80 ADP tool where you have a slider where you can be like oh like I want to see oh

10:25just from the last week cuz you could be like hey a week and a half ago is when this injury happened or a week and a

10:29half ago is when this coach said this about this player or when Naji Harris got signed what did that do to Cam

10:33Scatteraby's ADP like I just want to see the drafts Yeah.

10:36>> Um, and I know that I've seen like scatter plot points like um, Fantasy Mojo, Darren and Armani will put stuff

10:42out with FFPC where you can see it like the scatter plot. So, you can see it over time and then you see the trend.

10:47Uh, but there's a lot we can do to be more specific uh, and transparent about data that will help the whole endeavor

10:56go forward.

10:57>> And to Scott's point about uh, he called it what best ball brain or whatever they're really like even still, what are

11:03we what's the date today? August 20th.

11:04we're recording this. Most home leagues aren't drafted yet. Like >> so that ADP is not even a fact. Like we're not even factoring that in. So

11:12that that is tricky. We are heavily reliant on AD or baseball ADP early in the process. And maybe that is >> um making it also hard to course

11:22correct. So that that's uh that's really fascinating.

11:24>> Yeah. David Montgomery. D let me let me get Dave McGomery. I'm not trying to talk over you, Scott. I don't want to

11:29forget Dave Montgomery because you originally asked me. Um, it's pretty straightforward.

11:35This team, Joe Mixon, I mean, really, again, you want to do the TLDDR, Joe Mixon, running back six. We thought less

11:41of Joe Mixon at the time he got traded to the Texans and the league thought less of him than the league thinks of

11:47Dave Montgomery and the Texans think of David Montgomery. Um, he's rested, you know, he he's he's a he is the kind of

11:54guy who wants the ball on every play and he will give everything. He fits the mentality of the team. Kaylin Rutledge,

12:02their first round pick is one of the first round picks. I know offensive line talk isn't sexy guys, but the Rutled

12:08pick was we are going to assemble a bunch of bouncers throwing people out of the club. I mean, that's the over the

12:14makeover of the offensive line has been about that. And and my thing with this Jaden Higgins injury, I want to like

12:21cross myself and say, man, that sucks.

12:23Uh that you're more 12 personnel, more 13 personnel. Who wins? It's David McGomery.

12:32>> That's a great call.

12:32>> It wasn't it wasn't your your take that you gave me in the car.

12:37>> Uh wasn't just your love of David Montgomery, a love that I share. Uh but but it was it was a little spicier than

12:46that. Se you said uh better than >> Sparkley. I mean team running back, you know. I mean team look team kicker, team

12:56defense. If you had team running back, you could capture a lot more. No position is more environmentally sensitive for fantasy football than

13:05running back.

13:06>> True.

13:06>> So if you just say Houston team running back, I mean, you know, this team loves to run. They've assembled a they have a

13:10defensive-minded head coach. They've got a good defense to keep games on running game scripts. You know, we've seen again a similar case of let's bring in a

13:19veteran running back who knows how to carry the load and have him do it. I mean to me um if you look at that and

13:26compare that to Saquon Barkley you know Stoutland's gone new offense AJ Brown's gone and this is another pivot from that Scott where fantasy football hive mind

13:37is inconsistent if AJ Brown is so impactful that he's worth a second round pick in fantasy leagues then that's going to make Jaylen Herd's job more

13:45difficult not having him like and like just boom you know if he's that good if he's that impactful then whatever Kevin

13:53Patulo and his wrongheaded play calling or offensive line injuries, you know, I mean, that's the thing. It's like if you're are you making excuses for a

14:00player or are you saying and look the interesting thing about Jaylen Herz by the way, let's go into the weeds here,

14:07is more than one person I've talked to, including Greg Rosenthal, has indicated like Jaylen Herz was not exactly like loved by the team. you know, this AJ

14:16Brown stuff was probably a little bit of a canary in the coal mine. And that Jaylen Herz when you hear stuff about

14:23he's doing stuff, you know, this he's really changed this off season. There's some of this like that hit piece about how he's not that flexible. He likes to

14:30do what he likes to do. guys remember that earlier in the offseason.

14:33>> But some of it is again Greg Rosenthal's on my show last week and he and I asked him as a NFL reporter cover, you know,

14:39someone who's an insider now >> and you were covering fantasy football for the first 10 years of your career.

14:45What are we getting wrong? And he said personalities. It's about personalities.

14:50A lot of times workload, target share, all this stuff. It's about who likes who or who doesn't like who. And I think

14:56with Jaylen Herz, there's an hidden part of the story here of like does he really become like part of the family or is he

15:03still off on Jaylen Herz's island sort spiritually and where does that go again with the team not really having they don't have to keep him for more than

15:11like what one more year after this contractually really if you look at his contract. So this is a massive fork in

15:17the road for Jaylen Herz. All this is to say like Saquon and Tank Bsby is a better outside zone runner than Saquon

15:22Barkley who had to watch Todd Gurley this off seasonason to be like I got to remember how to do outside zone. I I

15:28just don't associate Saquon Barkley with like put your foot in the ground and get up field with you know smoke coming out

15:33of your nose. Like I >> he lacks decisiveness. Yeah, >> that's his game, you know. Um like he he what did someone say? He's like a two

15:42cut back, you know. He's not a one cut back, he's a two cut back. Um, so I just think that when you look at all the

15:47environmental factors around Montgomery and around Barkley, I mean, I don't think it's should be controversial to say that Montgomery is a better fantasy

15:54pick than Barkley.

15:56>> Wow. I love it. And you talked about team identity with Houston, like the dudes they brought in. You mentioned Rutled, but Wyatt Teller, he's an angry,

16:04you know, downhill gap scheme blocker who's who's going to thrive in that system. Braden Smith, another one comes over from the Colts, you know, angry,

16:12violent type of player. like they're definitely changing the team identity and what they want out of the run game and I you know I on paper it looks like

16:19it's going to work. We'll see I guess but um I I definitely love the direction and that's the that's where Montgomery

16:24is going to thrive. Coming from Detroit early in his tenure it was a more gap heavy scheme. It was way more downhill

16:31and physical as they transition to Gibbs. It did lean more into the outside zone and the inside zone stuff. So, I

16:37definitely think uh Montgomery he he's probably in the perfect si situation for him to be a bellcow.

16:44>> Yes. Ding ding. I need a cowbell.

16:48Actually, more cowbell. That's the Dave Montgomery. That's it, guys. The Dave Montgomery clip this year when he has like guys when he has uh first game

16:55against Buffalo, you know, when he has like 25 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown, three catches for 15 yards.

17:00More cowbell.

17:02>> I I want to press a little bit more into your Eagles takes. You have some eagles pessimism it sounds like.

17:07>> Well, uncertainty. Look, if we did a show, guys, it would be fun if we did a I bet you if the three of us did a show

17:13every day, we could come up with like a discreet. It would be like the salon. It would be like a, you know, it wouldn't

17:18be like a fantasy football talk show.

17:20It'd be like, let's delve into a topic and and opine and naval gaze. Let's say we did a show, guys, on the 32 offenses

17:27ranked by level of uncertainty, right?

17:32You know, like an offense like, you know, offenses like Detroit and the Rams and Cincinnati, like we have almost no uncertainty. Like we we know what those

17:40Oh, Joe Burrow's taking some snaps under center. Okay. You know, but we know what those offenses are going to look like,

17:46right? Like lots of continuity, like really strong forces at the quarterback position and things like that. Then there are other offensive are like,

17:53well, gez, there's a lot we don't know.

17:55I mean, new offensive coordinators, new personnel, maybe a new quarterback, you know, uh, the Eagles, I feel like, are one of those teams that would be at the

18:04top of the list of like, I don't know what we're going to get. I really don't.

18:08Again, Jeff Stoutland, okay, other than Dante Scarnia, I mean, I don't think there's been an offensive line coach that like influenced fantasy football

18:17without us even realizing it, right? Why was it just like get Eagles, Eagles, Eagles, get Eagles, get Eagles, you know, Jeff Stland?

18:24um the health of Lane Johnson who said it's my last year. Now someone do the data set of guys who said it's my last

18:30year at the beginning of the year. I don't know but I'm not confident he's going to stay health. I think he showed

18:35up to camp like a week late for personal reasons or whatever.

18:39>> Um Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson are definitely injury risks. Now they got a guy Markel Bell and they got another guy

18:47Lamin. So I mean Howie right in Howi be trust and maybe it won't matter. Um, Dantavian Wixs, you know, we'll see. Uh,

18:56Dallas Goddard, he's actually kind of a loadbearing player for this offense.

18:59He's We thought he wasn't going to be with this team like two years ago. You know, Devonte Smith already has a

19:05hamstring. Mai Lemon already has a hamstring. There's also a question of I I mean, JSN, yes, Devonte Smith can do you guys see the spider thing like with

19:15hard knocks where that JSN like break and then he went like six different directions. Do you guys see that? It was

19:19cool. I mean that's that's some cool use of like new technology to illustrate something. Devonte Smith can do a pretty good impression of that as a route Slim

19:26Reaper, but will his body hold up to that kind of punishment every week? Mhm.

19:32Um so you know and other thing about the Eagles guys is there was just this malaise like I wonder about Nick Seriani

19:39as a leader of men you know it's not if it's not working >> like what is he going to do you know? um

19:48like get the San Diego chicken costume and stomp around and like himself people.

19:54>> I don't I mean I I'm saying like I don't I don't >> have AI write some more speeches for him.

20:02Well, also you didn't even really mention it and I I think this is maybe the biggest most consequential part of their offseason is the move to Shawn

20:10Manion as the play caller where I mean 12 personnel is his you know primary pass concept generator and Jaylen Herz has routinely refused to throw over the

20:20middle of the field throughout his career and that's going to be asked of him in this system like you can't run

20:25that system the under center heavy play action boot stuff without throwing to the middle of the So, I'm uh I'm curious

20:31to see how that goes. And and Herz has been good doing it in his career, but he hasn't really done it at a high level in

20:36terms of volume. So, I philosophically you couldn't ask for a more different offense this year than what Jaylen Herz has played in throughout his career. We

20:43know he's the most coordinator dependent quarterback in the league. When it's right, he looks awesome. The both Super Bowl performances of his have been

20:50amazing, but when it's bad, he looks really bad. So, uh I think that's hugely consequential for for this offense. And then you you mentioned the AJ Brown

20:59departure. If he's as good as we think he is, that obviously is a big deal for them.

21:04>> Yeah. And look, there's a larger story.

21:05You brought up Shawn Manion, which was good, too, because um I was talking to someone yesterday and uh I I do too many

21:14shows, I can't even remember who I talked to. Um, but we were talking about Drew Petting and um, Paul Chartian and

21:20we were talking about Drew Ping and he said, "Hey, you know, I think Drew Petting there was probably going to like

21:24be like a bidding war for him because look at the guys that got hired after him, right?" Um, and they, you know, at

21:30least Declan Doyle has like some experience and he's been under Shawn Peyton and he's been under Ben Johnson, but he's young. He's never called plays

21:38in his life. Uh, and then Shawn Manion, who at least was a quarterback coach, uh, and under Matt Laflur. And I guess

21:45guys, if there's a inherent thing here with Manion and then David Blau, it is, hey, backup quarterbacks sign with teams based on who you get to learn from. And

21:54I was wondering, Scott, if it's like catchers in baseball, that maybe there's something about the way you prepare for the game as a backup quarterback is

22:01transitions to compare preparing for the game as like an offensive coordinator or even head coach in a way that no other

22:06job on the team does. Just something about like what you need to know. Uh, go ahead. Go ahead, Scott. No, I I I I

22:12think there's something to that, but I I'll also quote our good friend Adam Harststead, uh Harstad's razor, everything is selection bias. So, I

22:21wonder if it's also, you know, they're prioritizing smart, you know, pseudo coaches in the quarterback room to help out the starter kind of thing.

22:32>> Yeah, it's always good to invoke Adam.

22:33So, anyway, let's see how these guys do.

22:35David Blau hasn't even been a position coach, you know. Uh, do you learn enough as a backup quarterback to be a play

22:40caller two years out of the game? Let's see. I mean, obviously the the data set is not perfect with Philly and

22:46Washington because again, it could be like we're getting noise like about well, Larry Tunel got hurt, you know, and and so on. Uh, but it's very

22:55interesting, guys, because I think it's very new. I think the NFL, you know, this is a data set where the only data

23:01we have are these two guys.

23:03>> Yeah, it it gives me a little comfort.

23:05David Blau was interviewed by the Lions, you know, where he played and they thought about bringing him in. I guess I

23:11guess that gives me some comfort, but yeah, it's still a little uh we don't know.

23:16>> Yeah.

23:17>> Yeah.

23:19>> So, I was there something I was supposed to be talking about. See, this is where like put this on the Don't put it on the

23:24editing floor actually because we're real people. Um um but uh uh go ahead Brett, save me. Somebody throw me a line. Yeah, we're uh Scott, you wanted

23:34to hit Greg Rosenthal stuff.

23:36>> Well, yeah. So, you alluded to it earlier already. Um you and you you were kind of the one who broke the news to me

23:43when we were hanging out. Uh so, you asked Greg Rosenthal a great question.

23:47You were like, "What are the two things that fantasy people don't know about the NFL world that they should?" And one of

23:53which was just like how important and how impactful personalities are where it's like, yeah, the quarterback actually really thinks that wide

24:01receiver is an a-hole, but the tight end's his best friend and that's why he has, you know, uh, 12 touchdowns on 50

24:08targets and, you know, the coach thinks this guy is a knuckle and and Yeah, and then that's a real factor, but the other

24:14one too you mentioned was just how wildly under reportported injuries are in today's NFL. And uh so I had this

24:23debate with well you Greg leaked it.

24:26He's he's very you know close to the Chargers and the Rams out there in LA.

24:31He has really good sources and he said basically that Vlad Maki picked up an injury in August that the team was a

24:38aware that he wasn't going to be anywhere close to 100% all year and that 2025 was sort of going to be a lost year

24:45for him. And I had a debate on this channel with Ryan Heath maybe two weeks earlier and I said, "Listen, I am

24:53willing to get on board with you that Vlad Manki is this year's JSN. I just need an excuse for how bad his 2025

25:02season was because it was really so bad." It's like, but there's nothing coming out that he's playing hurt there.

25:09So, I I'm I have to fade him. And then Greg Rosenthal leaked that on your show.

25:16But yeah, it's not just it's not just Lad Mcconi, but it's it's true everywhere. It's it's you see it with you watch uh the wide receiver show on

25:25Netflix. Almond Ross St. Brown had hand foot and mouth disease. His hands were like literally bleeding. His socks were bloody and like you never hear about

25:34that. Baker Mayfield, his entire throwing arm is black and blue. Wasn't even on the injury report. And yeah, so I just constantly wonder like how much

25:44better at my job would I be if we actually had access to fair, you know, reporting and like actually knew who was

25:52hurt and who wasn't. Like so many times we just kind of have to guess or it comes out in in February where it's

25:58like, hey, I looked like an absolute idiot on this call, but you know, February it comes out, oh, he he had

26:03this, you know, ankle that he played through the entire, you know, winter.

26:07Um, and so yeah, I don't know if there was anything you wanted to to pin.

26:11>> Oh, there's a lot. I mean, this is this is a this is an important topic of the moment, guys, because Okay, let's take

26:18the specific case that you're talking about, Lad McConi, where he was hurt in camp and was kind of just um known that,

26:27oh yeah, this is going to be a loss season for him or he was never healthy.

26:30Maybe they had hopes and it just didn't happen. And this is happening more whether it's a pre-season injury or never really getting fully healthy from

26:38something the previous year or something that happens during the season where and if you pay attention you'll even hear players like Trouba Hubard last year I

26:45think came back after two weeks which was enough to eventually lose his job to Rico Dowel but he didn't say he felt

26:51like himself until like eight weeks after his calf injury right and not and players often don't talk about this stuff I remember Dr. Gene Braml who I

26:58had the great privilege of working with for years and years. True innovator in the like fantasy football injury medicine.

27:05>> Love Dr. Jean. Did he did he retire?

27:08>> He retired from Football Guys because he needs to save the world and he's capable of it. Um and he said players always

27:15inflate how good they're feeling. You know, like if a player says 70% uhoh, you know, there should they should say 95. I mean they're all going to say like

27:2395% and when they're not healthy. Um, so even that players talk about it's kind of taboo to talk about how injuries are

27:29affecting you. And I think what that creates is with all these different injuries that have been reported and we do have specific information. So let's

27:37just isolate it guys to the injuries we're like he'll be ready for week one because if guys are returning to practice that's reassuring but the he'll

27:43be ready for week one guys you know Luther Burden and Bree Hall and Kyle Manungai and so on. Um here's what I can

27:52tell you. uh in general players are as healthy as they're going to be in week one. Okay? And it's just all downhill

27:59from there. So we already know that these guys might be playing because they're fully healed from the injury or it might be because well this injury is

28:06going to like you have to play with it and we're going to let it rest like Buto. We're going to let it rest but

28:12when the season comes we got to win games and you're going to be out there.

28:15And I can tell you this not many stories start. He had a career year after he missed the last three weeks of training camp with an injury.

28:25>> Now, some stories that are about a bust start. He had a training camp injury and just never really it never went off.

28:32This is why even like Jaden Higgins in a dynasty perspective is like gh, you know, just because we're looking for similarity. I'm not saying, you know,

28:38correlation is not causation or anything like that, but I know that if I'm looking for somebody who's going to be an overachiever, somebody who's already

28:45broken the injury seal and is sitting until the first week so they can be ready to play is probably not going to

28:51be an overachiever. Much more likely to be an underachiever. And then you have to start asking, well, what would that mean for this offense if this player is

28:57an underachiever? You can start asking about the ripple effect. That can affect uh how you look at players. And then the

29:02other thing, Scott, that I think you bring up that takes me in a whole different direction is what if we knew,

29:07you know, >> what if we knew? One of the ways I always said this, Scott, was if we could trade bodies with a player during the

29:12season.

29:13>> Immed you know how they did that thing for like with men where they could sim simulate the pain of a period, you know,

29:18they would put it on a dude and like turn it on. You guys know what I'm talking about?

29:21>> And and the guy's like, "Oh my god."

29:24>> You know, um if they if you could do that as an NFL player, like you're trading bodies with an NFL player, like

29:29you're getting their sense data. Oh, you say these guys are crazy. Like, I can't even get out of bed.

29:36>> Yeah.

29:36>> And he's gonna play a football game on Thursday night or whatever.

29:40>> I mean, there are all all pro NFL players in the league today, right now, who say it takes them 45 minutes to get

29:47out of bed because they're in so much pain, their body >> and they're in your lineup on Sunday.

29:52And and I think what it and Scott, I think what it would emphasize to us is who can play effectively through pain

30:03and through injuries that limit them and have force their bodies to adapt during the season to like not full capacity.

30:10And who are players the sports cars, right? Like who's like the Jeep or the pickup truck, you know, from like the

30:151950s that you could probably like fabricate apart in your machine shop if you needed to. And then who's the sports car that uhoh once something's misfiring

30:25it's going to be like a ghost you can't ch like Lamar Jackson last year like who are the players that once the injury

30:30seal's broken you have to think of them as a different player for the rest of the season and if we had and I think we

30:35can look back on that and we can say you know who at least we have data like this guy can play through injuries and play

30:41well and this is a dude that um you just want him to sit like you almost want him to sit an extra week from the time frame

30:48that's originally given so you feel comfortable that he's actually have a chance to be himself when he comes back.

30:54>> It's It's also on a team level as well.

30:56Like Pete Carol notorious for kind of encouraging guys to play through injuries he really shouldn't. Like Tyler Lockett notorious would play through

31:06anything but would just like suck because like hey he should have been on IR right.

31:11>> Uh I think we saw that with Brock Bowers last year. Um, also the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where yeah, like Baker

31:18Mayfield, I mean, he did this with the Browns, too. We we talked about this many times, Sig. Um, he, you know,

31:24should have, you know, sat, but also Aka Ibuka, he suffered an injury where every injury expert in the game, Jeff Mueller

31:32included, said, "Hey, he needs to sit two maybe two or 3 weeks." And if not, then you're doing more harm than good

31:40because, you know, you you're not allowing the body to actually heal from that injury. So instead of, you know, missing two games and then popping back

31:48at 95%.

31:49You're he's just going to be 60% for the rest of the year until he actually sits.

31:54>> And that's exactly what happened. You know, he he didn't he didn't miss a single game. Um so yeah, I think there's

32:00I think there's really a lot to that.

32:02>> Well, and the important thing is just to like wrestle with it. You know, what I don't like are these uh overly simple

32:08approaches. Like I don't pay attention to preseason injuries, you know. Um I don't think there's anybody out there being Chicken Little and fading every

32:14single preseason injury.

32:16>> Uh but these are the places where you can find. So here's another layer to all this guys. And uh I did a show with Jeff

32:25Bllelock who was a friend of mine from a long time ago from Austin. Um and uh he's he's a football guys now. Uh it's

32:32called Dynasty Compass. And it's cool cuz we're talking about our compasses, right? Um, and one of the things that occurred to me when I was doing the show

32:40with him was and this and just like as above so below like what applies in fantasy football applies in life usually. Certainly applies in there's a

32:47lot of stuff with football too. Um, what you what you witness today can change the meaning of what you learned yesterday.

32:59what you witnessed today could change the meaning of what you learned yesterday.

33:03>> Yes. So, for instance, like Lad McConi, like you're searching for a why, you know.

33:08>> Yeah.

33:09>> And you have a story of the Chargers offense. It was Joe Alton and Rashan Slater, who by the way still hasn't

33:14practiced yet. Uh, you know, and yeah, I just went down yesterday. By the way, while we were doing this show, guys, it

33:20was reported that Sam Porter has a hip injury that may keep him out into the regular season >> on this topic.

33:26Um anyway, you know, as we learn more about what happened, it should change our expectation of what's going to happen. Yeah. I mean, that shouldn't be

33:37controversial. And yet, I don't like I almost feel like while there's all this um injury news and stuff coming out training camp, guys, what it makes me

33:45want to do is go back and look at last year and make sure that I've properly contextualized last year with all the

33:51corrections we have. Because you'll hear like, you know, Michael when Michael Wilson says something like, "Well, I was playing the X whenever Harrison was out

33:58that Drew Ping's offense focused on the X. Now I'm playing a different position.

34:01This is going to be different." You know, I mean, these things like we're getting information about last year as players are talking about this year and

34:08it should be changing what we think is going to happen this year.

34:12>> That's fun. I uh Scott, can we dive into some vibe checks on that note?

34:18>> Let's do it. Yeah. So Brett uh in this show sheet here uh filled out a number of questions he's dying to ask you.

34:24>> Yes, we could do lightning round if you want to give me like a timer. You know, we're going to go for volume where the

34:29points double.

34:30>> Yeah, I definitely have a few good ones.

34:31I uh you know, what do you think the Texans What are you expecting from the Texans now that uh you know, our guy

34:38Jaden Higgins is down for the year? Are should they get aggressive and trade for a wide receiver or do you think you're

34:43going to beef up 12? Like where where are you kind of at? What you feeling? I I would love to see Kahan Bouty there,

34:48but I'm curious on your thoughts.

34:49>> Yeah, and I think that Lance Zerline, who you know, I trust for lots of things, especially things Texan said, uh, you know, Bouty, Franklin, I mean,

34:57makes sense, but and they are good fits, but doubtful that a team competing with them to go to the Super Bowl would trade

35:03them a player. I think somebody brought up Allen Lazard. He was like, you know, Lazard fits, but that's the point, right? I I think he brought up Gabe

35:10Davis and someone said Gabe Davis is hurt, you know, but he, you know, I blocking wide receivers, big-bodied wide receivers, but not necessarily skilled

35:18wide receivers or wide receivers who are, you know, M. Hollands would be a perfect guy for them, but I think the

35:22Patriots again aren't going to trade with the Texans. Um, so again, what's going to happen? I think more 12 personnel, more 13 personnel cuz guys,

35:31Brevin Jordan is healthy for now. Knock on wood. They like Cade Stove. They drafted Marlon Klein in the second round. another one of the teams that

35:37drafted a second round inline tight end and he's more of like an upside project, but he's still projected as an inline

35:43tight end. Of course, they've got Dalton Schultz, you know, so I think you're just going to see a lot more 12 and 13

35:48personnel and it it brings down the ceiling of the offense as a whole, but I think you we could see even more Woody

35:55Marks. Uh, you know, just a team that may run the ball 450 500 times when you look at the running back carries this

36:01year because that fits how they win.

36:04Again, defensive-minded head coach. I think that's something we don't talk about enough. Defensive-minded head coach is happy to win games 20 to9.

36:12>> And I can tell you what he doesn't want.

36:13That's his quarterback taking a sack on 30 >> turning the ball over, too. I mean, that was the How did they get evicted from

36:19the playoff last year, you know?

36:20>> Yep. Yep.

36:22>> Yeah. And the amount of field goals they lost out on cuz cuz Straoud did something goofy on third down. Like, we

36:26just can't have that. We got to >> We got to take the points and run. Um, that's a great call. Were you in on

36:32Montgomery before the Higgins News? And that's just >> I mean every single draft I just felt again like I looked at the second round

36:38running backs guys and I think like there's some tantalizing upside say with um Chase Brown and Kenneth Walker. I get it

36:45>> you know go ahead.

36:46>> Sorry I just remembered another great take you had Sig.

36:50>> Mhm.

36:51>> I was just going to say Hampton Hampton.

36:52So and well the second round so Montgomery fits in with second round running backs. I mean, uh, Brett, from the as soon as I put, you know, what's

36:59fun is do your first set of rankings of the year without looking at anyone else's rankings, okay? Like, everybody should do that. Everybody should do any

37:08idea what people out there think the first rankings you do. And then you're like, what? David Montgomery is not a second rounder. Okay. And then as Scott

37:17saying, Omari and Hampton is. And look, Omari and Hampton can return second round value. I don't think he can return first round value. I do think he can

37:26return second round value, but that's his ceiling.

37:29>> That is his ceiling.

37:31>> And why is Mike McDaniel so giddy?

37:33Although Jim Harbaugh seemed pretty depressed about Bottish going down there a rookie now, rookie center with two one guard position still up for grabs. The

37:41other one, you know.

37:42>> Mhm.

37:43>> And that's another thing, by the way, about Hampton, you know. I mean, he's he's going to be at his best running

37:50downhill gap stuff. I don't I know people keep talking about his outside I don't know what happened Brett if there was some N run that was charted as an

37:59outside zone run and you know because of the the cornerback fell down he took it for like a 60-yard run you know and he

38:06can run outside zone no um Marian Hampton is Dererick Henry he is um Brandon Jacobs and you he's a load I

38:15mean like so much kinetic energy coming downhill at you like you just kind of aim him at like a with a slingshot or a

38:21catapult like watch all of his best plays from last year. He does not change direction on those plays. Nope.

38:27>> Um he's not a processor.

38:30>> He doesn't have like footwork or he can't sink in his hips to react to what's happening. Now he's a load. I've

38:38heard that he's a good receiver. Almost all of his receptions are dump offs. He doesn't run routes, >> okay? He's not a nifty guy matchup with

38:47the linebacker in space or something.

38:49He's not really even a space player.

38:51He's a battering ram. And a battering ram, like Derrick Henry has shown us, a battering ram in the right scheme and

38:58Mike McDaniel might be the right scheme.

39:00It can be a second round or even like and it's like if if Amar Hampton starts breaking off like four or five 60 plus

39:08touchdown yard runs, he can even maybe sneak into the first round. But Mike McDaniel, why he's so excited is he has

39:15a playbook where any week he can look at the opponent and look at their weaknesses and say we can attack that

39:21whether he has he can there are different he told us I mean hot hand backfield and this is one of those

39:26things guys thanks for letting me like stretch out and rant um hot like we've never drafted a hot hand running back in

39:34the second round you know we have the data set of all the running backs that before the season the coach said and we

39:38can do the outcome like was there ever a hot hand running back that was a first round pick in hindsight, you know, I

39:43doubt it, but Mike McDaniel some weeks, you know, if you're playing the Cowboys, you're playing team, these teams, like I think more teams are going to go like

39:52three big down linemen now. Well, you're going to attack the edges. You're going to attack with Katon Mitchell and Kimmani Vidal. So there are going to be

40:01games where Hampton and maybe it is like week one, you know, I think could they play Arizona, you know, maybe it is week

40:08one where he has three touchdowns and 200 yards, breaks a 80 yard touchdown run and has like two more short touch.

40:14Everyone's like, "Yeah, he should have been up there with McCaffrey and but in other games he's going to get like 10

40:20carries, you know." Um because Mike McDaniel, my way of summing up the whole Chargers offense, guys, is 11 players will score touchdowns in the first 11

40:29weeks. I mean, if Mike McDaniel's doing his like maestro thing, which I mean, he wants to. I mean, that's what he's all

40:35about. So, they have three quality tight ends. They have five quality. Did you guys see Brennan Thompson? The Brennan Thompson tape.

40:42>> I mean, he his acceleration is up there with anybody in the league right now.

40:46Like, his acceleration out of like you talk about eating up the cushion. He doesn't just eat up the cushion, you know? You're you're like, "Is he going

40:52to eat it?" And then the table's turned over and there's a puff of smoke and he's just gone, you know? So, like what

40:58can Mike McDaniel do with that? So, it's exciting.

41:02>> It is exciting. I That was such an eloquent way of describing the the Hampton conundrum because I've been all over it. Scott will attest. I've I think

41:10he's one of the worst picks at ADP by a lot. And uh >> I mean, how can you take him over

41:15Derrick Henry when Dererick Henry proved he's Derrick Henry? Marin Hampton hasn't even proved he's Derrick Henry yet.

41:19>> Yeah.

41:19>> I mean, it's just And it may work out.

41:21Oh, I mean, fantasy football has wide range of outcomes, but >> skill set wise, Hampton is like a younger, juicier version of Montgomery,

41:30just in a way worse situation for that skill set. It's uh another thing too with the the scheme stuff, like the 2022

41:37and 2023 Dolphins offenses were so outside zone heavy, it's ridiculous.

41:42Like, and Hampton just like biomechanically can't exist in that scheme on more than a couple touches a game. He has to be a downhill player.

41:50So, and then I I said it on yesterday's show, Scott, like McDaniel putting up wanted posters with Keaton Mitchell's face on it just cuz that scares me for

41:58Hampton. Like he there was another running back he was willing to pound the table for with his GM with his head

42:03coach and he got him. That should scare people. Hampton's not going to be a this bellcow type that's going to pay off

42:10first round value. And one thing Scott has taught me is we don't we don't draft players at their ceiling.

42:14>> Yeah, we just don't. I mean, >> yeah, >> but the thing is, Brett, there folks aren't even really recognizing that he's

42:21at his ceiling. That's the thing. But that's okay. I mean, that's what we're This is what we've been talking about from the beginning of the show, which is

42:26like the differences seem so stark and clear that um this is almost not any controversy. It's like Nigar Indian culture. That's what I was telling Scott

42:35about when he almost died in my car. Um uh they have a saying two-way two-way pocky way. Two-way pocky way means you

42:42go your way, I'll go. It's like a way to make a fight go away. You go your way, I'll go mine. And that's kind of how

42:46fantasy football is this year.

42:49>> I love it. Another one I want to ask you about. Did you happen to catch Jonah Coleman's preseason tape? Where you at?

42:55Are we going to get Shawn Peyton here?

42:56Is this Did he just pass RJ Harvey on their depth chart? What's the vibe check on Jon Coleman?

43:00>> Oh, I just put this out there. There's a new um Mike Nuggets. I kept saying there should be player speak index. So,

43:06they're doing like it's not all just players, but it is like um that's where I got my Jacobe Myers quote from to Mike

43:13Nuggets. Um, and there was a, you know, there were some quotes from the Broncos and I just said, "Boy, it feels like

43:21they're telling us like Davis Webb and Shawn Payeyton. It feels like they're saying we found our running back of the future." You know, you just watch how

43:27they talk about him. They're like, "We got our guy, you know, and so I think that you're looking past JK Dobbins this

43:34year as RJ Harvey is a compliment and Jonah Coleman. I I'll I'll tell you guys the Thank you. the um the when they took

43:45Coleman and let me take as a quick aside for Dynasty players out there actually even though it's a bummer what happened

43:51to Jordan Tyson the first round of um Dynasty rookie drafts have gotten better like we would look back at the first

43:57round of Dynasty rookie drafts and say oh you know John Stribbling Jonah Coleman this is coming along um you know

44:06Malachi Fields uh Cyrus Allen like a lot of players are increasing in value And I think that with Jonah Coleman when they

44:14drafted him guys cuz the thing about Jonah Coleman was I watched him Brett I was like he's not great at anything. He

44:22doesn't necessarily have any sort of athletic advantage but he's just so solid. He's just so economical in his

44:32movements. He's toughminded, you know.

44:35And when they drafted him I was like Kyron Williams. My head was just like Kyron Williams cuz I overlooked Ka Williams.

44:41>> Yeah. I overlooked Kairen Williams because athletically I thought teams are going to look this is like Robert Henry and Kron Allen, right? Like when you

44:50watch the other running backs follow Kairen Williams in drills in practice, you're going to be like, "Yeah, I mean he's, you know, like what happened to

44:57Devin Singleary? Like he's a really good football player, but I've got a bigger back or a faster back, you know, or a

45:02more elusive back or whatever." Uh even though he can do kind of all those things. And so that's, you know, the

45:10difference between say a Devon Devin Singleary and a Kairen Williams is, I think, um, the quality of offense and the conviction, the level of conviction

45:21by the coaches. And I think we've got that with Coleman.

45:26>> I really like Jonah Coleman. This was one of my pound the table for guys in this draft. And I I think it's funny he

45:33went to Denver. Denver has probably well now that Ryan Pagnetti is is an influencer and not in the league, I'd say they have the best analytics

45:42department in the NFL and uh they always drafted my guys. Like they drafted Marvin Mims, Audrey Estime, uh Troy Franklin, a bunch of guys who didn't

45:53really work out, but yeah, they were all over this guy and it's not hard to see why. This was a major analytics darling.

45:59You look at um the best seasons from from this year's running back class and miss tackles force per touch. He had two

46:05of the top three seasons. By yards after contact per attempt, he had the best season. By yards after the catch, per

46:11reception, he had the two best seasons.

46:14By yards per route run, the second best season. And so, yeah, everyone was losing their minds over Jeremiah Love, but by each of those stats, he was, you

46:22know, right there behind him. But he carried no luster, no sex appeal. Um, and it was just like sort of confusing

46:31to me. And so, you know, what is the situation he falls himself into now? Is JK Dobbins is the most injuryprone

46:39player of all time or at least, you know, I I don't I can't think of any player certainly not being drafted in

46:45the first 15 rounds, who's missed more uh a higher percentage of possible career games than JK Dobbins. Uh, and then you have RJ Harvey, a player who

46:55Brett and I were both really high on, but you know, largely was awful last year. Uh, and that was like an uh, shout

47:03out to Zack Swelles, one of our charters, that that was something he made note of in his weekly column notes from a charter just how there were

47:11massive holes that JK Dobbins was hitting and having great success with.

47:16And then, you know, when Harvey got the the same hole, he you know, he was tentative or he he didn't run he wasn't

47:22running to the right spot and yeah, he just kind of really struggled. And so, um Jonah Coleman also, by the way,

47:28profiled as more of a bellcow as um a really good underrated pass catcher as well. So, there's there's a real pathway

47:36uh to success for a Shawn Peyton offense, which you know, historically up until a couple years ago was always phenomenal for fantasy running backs.

47:45The the Harvey stuff is spot on, Scott.

47:47Like, his tape last year was alarming at best.

47:51>> I mean, it really And I was the biggest R.J. Harvey truther as a draft prospect.

47:54So, I'm I'm eating L's every day on that one. Um, >> but I was really alarmed. And running back's not a position you get a lot of

48:01developmental runway. It's they're pretty much >> they are what they are when they come out. You maybe some pass pro gets fixed

48:07and you know, >> so I'll actually push back on that. I think I think after year two like I think you need two years because

48:14Christian McCaffrey, Levian Bell, David >> M. I'm not talking from a production standpoint. Not talking from a production standpoint.

48:20>> All right. All right.

48:20>> I'm I'm talking tape skill like the skill set that they have is usually >> coming out is usually what they rely on

48:26in the NFL. Like minus some >> very specific examples like I like I give the Jir Gibbs comp like he wasn't

48:33an outside zone heavy player coming out of Alabama. Um he had to learn that part of his game. learned the vision, the

48:39timing, the pace. He did learn it, but it was like it was rough his first couple games in Detroit. So, um, but

48:45yeah, typically it's, you know, you don't you don't get a lot of guys developing. So, I don't know that Harvey's going to get a ton better than

48:51he is. And I I think there's a real opportunity here for Coleman to to pass him up. So, >> well, and I got to move him down in my

48:56dynasty rankings. That's pretty >> it's pretty pessimistic.

49:00>> S, do you got time for one more?

49:01>> I've got I'm I'm comfortable. Let's ask.

49:05You got me. So, ask me everything you want to ask.

49:08>> Awesome. Let's do uh I hate the way I'm going to phrase this because I'm going to make it sound like it's a good thing

49:14Jordan Tyson got injured. It's not. I'm I'm very upset that Jordan Tyson got injured. However, who what is your feel and vibe for who's going to be the major

49:22beneficiary? There's a lot of ways this could go. They could lean heavier run game. They drafted three receivers, so does another rookie step up. Is it more

49:2912p with Oscar Delp? Or is it simply just we've overlooked Jawan Johnson forever and he's just gonna do it again?

49:35Where are you at?

49:36>> Kind of all the above. I mean, here's Well, and the reason I'll say kind of all the above is Saints have an

49:41outstanding offensive line. Um, and with the Coleman stuff, it this gives me an opportunity also like again, teams don't lie in the draft. What teams do when

49:51they hand in that card is telling the truth about what they value, you know, and how what they think about their

49:57team. And when this the Broncos, you know, someone could have not watched RJ J. Harvey's tape at all and heard that

50:04Jon Coleman went to the Broncos and say, "Oh, they must not like Harvey that much." Um, and likewise, when you see

50:09them go with Jordan Tyson and Oscar Delp and Bryce Lance and they go out and sign David Edwards to like the one hole in

50:16the line, you know, >> Barry Brown, too.

50:19>> Yeah. And they got Barryian Brown in like the sixth round. Yeah. Uh, my point is you're saying like we're going to

50:25have an aggressive pass offense. We believe in Tyler Shuck. We know that having a rookie contract quarterback gives you certain flexibility and

50:31they're so what they're doing is you know guys this is you fantasy drafters could learn something from this right they're saying we're going to draft as

50:39if we've got the next guy cuz you know if they don't what does it matter anyway you know so let's go ahead and see like

50:45let's let's surround him with these vertical targets let's you know really stress out they go and sign Travis Han like let's stress out defenses and let

50:54Tyler Shuck do his thing so I think that the fantasy community in general was way too low on the Saints offense. And if

51:00Tyson had stayed healthy, cuz let's be clear, Nick Underh Hill, who's one player people we respect the most of all the B riders out there. Um, when Nick

51:07Underhill is like he's spectac, you know, he's just amazing. Like there's just people gushing about him. You know that Tyson has a it Matt Walin said it

51:16is integrated technique. I don't actually know if Tyson has that yet, but the point is he was going to be an

51:21impact player and he may still be an impact player this year. I think if you take him away, you still have enough

51:26players that they can still be a very aggressive offense and players that have chemistry with Tyler Shuck already. So, let's step through this. Chris Olive

51:36second half the year last year projected to like um 100 catches 14 13400 yards you know 7 8 nine touchdowns. I mean

51:44first round wide receiver numbers late first round wide receiver numbers. So in the second round if you can't get Brock Bowers that's a nice consolation. Now,

51:52Devon Vele, again, the coaches are telling us guys, Kellen Moore said earlier in the offseason, I was thinking I should have gotten Devon the ball

52:00more. That's what he said.

52:02>> He said that, >> you know, it was keeping me up at night thinking I should have thrown and Devon catcher on the moving train with the

52:09rookies. You know, he was traded to the team mid season. I think they traded a third or fourth round pick for him. They

52:14liked him a lot. And Vele um already produced numbers with Shook before he got hurt last year. So that's a layup. I

52:22mean, Devon Vele as like a 13th, 14th round pick in PPR leagues or somebody in your start three wide receivers with a

52:28flex PPR leagues. I mean, this guy could be lifesaver for you. And then you mentioned Jawan Johnson. They've got the shower narrative going back to Oregon

52:372019. And um Nick Underhill also said something like um he's criminally undervalued in fantasy at the beginning of camp like on July 27th. um so he can

52:47occupy that middle of the field and he was a big receiver originally um as a recruit. So we know that that's his

52:55game. So I think guys there's room for all three of these players to exceed ADP which then should make you ask like

53:01should we be talking more about Tyler Shuck first game. So if you like to wait in your draft guys first game of the

53:07season at Detroit. So I feel comfortable starting Tyler Shuck in week one.

53:13Uh Scott, where you at on this? Because I know you're you're a veil guy, right?

53:17Those final four games with Shuck is something that impressed you. Where where you at?

53:21>> Um yeah, this is one I I I feel like I'm still trying to figure out. Um yeah, Devon Vle his last three games. So it

53:31was like right after they traded Rasheed Shahed uh before he got hurt uh or up until like he got hurt I think fourth

53:39quarter in that last game. He had the exact same amount of targets as Chris Olive. He had more receiving yards than

53:47Ave or any other player on the team. And then even Jawan Johnson, he he really feels like a player we're sleeping on

53:54and and me and I'm sleeping on. He uh from week seven on he ranked top 20 among all players and receiving yards

54:01had more yards per game and than Colston Loveland and T. Higgins and guys like that. he um so yeah I I feel like

54:10there's there's a lot of upside here but it's also I have Chris Wet or projections guy in my ear like I you

54:18know this is a closer to a mid-range wide receiver one than where I have him ranked and I'm like I don't I don't know about that

54:26because you know again it was he fell into a sort of perfect situation last year where there was no one else uh a

54:33ton of negative game script uh Tyler Shuck you know looked great at the end of the year, but it was also the softest

54:40uh strength of schedule in the second half last year. Um, and it's, you know, you have coach speed coming out that

54:47Chris Olive, they want him in more of a um lower target per route run, higher depth of route sort of role. I know

54:55we've talked about that a few times, Brad. I'm >> sure they phrased it just like that, too, didn't they?

55:00>> So, we've talked about But it's also like, let's not lose sight of who Chris Olive was before last year. This was um

55:08an injury-prone player with like severe Tua-esque concussion risk. This was also a guy who on a per route basis never really distinguished himself from

55:19Rasheed Shahed, you know, with with Clint Kubak as the play caller. It was it was as close to a 1A 1B as it gets.

55:27Uh and you know, we're not drafting Rasheed Shahed until round 17, if that.

55:33And so it's it's just like I I feel like I've struggled to to articulate it. And like maybe that's just because this is a

55:40bad argument, but it's and I'm really not a gut call guy, but something here it it feels like a gut call. Like I'm

55:48not that bullish on Chuck. I I'm not as bullish on Chris Olive as it seems everyone wants me to be.

55:55>> Tran Johnson's fine. Is he a league winner? Probably not.

55:59>> I uncovered something crazy in the data suite the other day with the Saints offense. Uh oh.

56:03>> Only the the Titans, the Raiders, and the Jets ran fewer plays inside the five.

56:08>> Oh, interesting.

56:10>> Um Tyler Shuck threw three passes inside the 5yd line last year.

56:14>> Well, he also ran some, right?

56:16>> He had three drop backs. Three drop backs. Two he scrambled and and then one he threw. It was an incomplete pass.

56:22Spencer Rattler in the games he started had seven drop backs inside the five and then they were like bottom of the league

56:28in rush attempts inside. Like they literally ran no plays inside the five last year. only the worst teams in the league ran less. And so like all these

56:35guys could be due for some positive touchdown regression to be honest with you if this offense in year two is ticking a little bit better than it was

56:42last year.

56:43>> Well, certainly Jawan Johnson is like I said, top 20 in receiving yards week seven on last year. Uh and only two

56:51touchdowns to show for it. So yeah, hey, I missed that. That's a that's a good poll. Certainly a stat that lends itself

56:58towards a positive regression to the mean, perhaps counterbalancing my point regarding the pillow soft strength of schedule. Um, Sig, so so Brett just just

57:09snuck in his last question. I'm going to ask my last question and then I'll let you ask your last question like you do

57:15on on your show.

57:17>> Um, >> I want to vibe check on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver room.

57:22>> Where where are you at on that? because Mike Evans is gone. You have Acha Ibuka, Ben Solak thinks is is going to or very

57:32well could lead the league in receptions this year playing the Zack Robinson Z.

57:37You have Chris Godwin, who the last time we saw him fully healthy, he ranked behind only Jamar Chase and fantasy points per game. You have Ted Hurst,

57:47who's like a training camp darling, and I hated this year's rookie class. And this was one of the few guys after round

57:53one I I found myself getting excited.

57:56You have Jaylen McMillan who's, you know, flashed when on the field. Um, and so I would love to get your thoughts.

58:02How much upside do you see uh overall?

58:06Is do you have a favorite target here at cost?

58:11>> Yeah. No, it's a great topic and I think that the bottom line here is the Tampa offense is underrated. Okay. Everything

58:21went wrong for this offense last year.

58:23>> Oh, yeah.

58:24>> And Brett, uh, you brought up or I'm sorry, Scott, you brought up uh Baker Mayfield in that injury, the arm. I

58:29mean, Baker Mayfield got so beat up in week seven against Detroit. It just changed the season for this team. He had

58:34multiple injuries coming out of that game. He couldn't move. He couldn't throw the ball comfortably. I think like little by little they cleared up and

58:40then he started getting more injuries.

58:41They had a ton of offensive line injuries leading to the Baker Mayfield injuries. You know, Chris Scott wasn't himself maybe until the end of the year.

58:48Jayen McMillan missed half the year and wasn't himself until the end of the year. Mike Evans missed a bunch of games. Ibuka got hurt during the year.

58:54Um, you know, I mean, it was just Yeah, TZ Johnson played some. He was a rookie, you know. Uh, so everything went wrong.

59:02Okay.

59:03>> And >> just real quick, I This is one of my favorite stats. Sig. Yeah. Baker Mayfield was on the practice report

59:09listed with an injury 11 times last year with foot, toe, biceps, knee, oblique illness, shoulder left, and shoulder right injuries. Uh, from the Netflix

59:19show, there's a picture, maybe we can get it on the screen here in a minute, uh, of his arm just totally black and

59:25blue. He was not on the injury report that week, hilariously.

59:29>> That was one of the 11 weeks he was on injury report. And and Kristen Worfs is back at practice. He got he's missed

59:34practices, you know. I mean, that's important. Um, and I would say this, I was in on Ibuka in like the late third

59:43because I think he was a good answer to like this one of the biggest uh most likely this year's JSN, which is I mean

59:50there was just a lot of talk about he's going to be back in the Z. He's going to be moving around. He was in the X when

59:54Evans was out. He's not a natural X and that's just that's just how things go.

59:58But he's the kind of guy that, you know, Ibuka is so very um his execution is just like, you know,

60:08guys, there are certain receivers, and I'm going to totally bloom him when I say this, but there are certain receivers that you almost like Larry

60:17Fitzgerald, you didn't even have to watch like once you once the ball came into the frame and you saw with Larry

60:22Fitzgerald, you're like, "Oh, that's a catch." You didn't even have to really watch him catch it. Like, that's a catch. Ibuka is just that kind of dude,

60:28you know? He's not the most physically impressive as far as like his burst out of his stance or breaking someone's ankles in a route or hanging in the air

60:36like, you know, Michael Jordan, but he just makes the play. And Baker Mayfield is a very aggressive quarterback. He's exactly the kind of quarterback we want

60:43for fantasy football. This toe thing, though, you know, I mean, I just it just makes me say like, I know better. Um, and then you

60:53say, well, what then? Um, and the good thing is, you know, all these guys are cheap. Godwin is cheap in a PPR league.

60:59I I love him as a third or fourth option. Jaylen McMillan's cheap. He's back at practice, guys. He had a knee

61:04injury earlier in camp. Jaylen McMillan, uh, some reporters, Beauty Report, by the way, is one of the longest running like fan like independent team sources

61:13and they they are very reliable. And it was Scott Reynolds, dude, who showed me around the Senior Bowl. Um, and they

61:21said McMillan has actually even been more impressive than Ibuka in the spring.

61:25>> And then this summer you're hearing Tess Johnson's even more impressive this summer.

61:29>> So they got and then Ted Hurst is doing enough that they're saying like he's coming along and Ted Hurst is a dude who

61:35can hang in the air like Michael Jordan.

61:37You know, Ted Hurst is a dude. They said when they drafted him like don't think that we had to have a Mike Evans type as

61:42our ex. We can have other types of exes too. And Jason Light's track record drafting wide receivers guys. either the new Steelers, you know.

61:51>> So, I just think you want to dabble in the cheap, you know, McMillan 11th, 12th round, Hurst 14th, 15th round, TZ

61:58Johnson, Waverwire, Speed Dial. Um, because this offense is going to out produce expectations. And then with Vita Vea back in the fold, and uh I love

62:08Ruben Bane. He might be my favorite player from this draft class, guys.

62:11Like, um, I love the and then Baker Mayfield's playing disres. Everyone disrespected me. my own team disrespected me. You know, I like this

62:19team as like an outside Super Bowl shot.

62:21There you go. Put it out there.

62:23>> Hey, I love it. This is this is really one of my favorite players in the league. Baker Mayfield just there's no

62:29more got that dog in him player maybe ever or since since the days of Steve Smith.

62:35>> You know what I'll say? Self belief in self.

62:39>> Yeah.

62:40>> Belief even more than Jaylen Herz. You know, you talk about overcoming the odds like Han Solo. I'm all I got Star Wars

62:45on. We watched Return of the Jedi last week. Uh don't tell me the odds, you know, like that's Baker Mayfield. Uh and

62:51he's come back from the brink. He's come back from the death scene so many times already, you know. How can you bet

62:57against him?

62:58>> So true.

63:00>> All right. Did you uh Sig, did you have a question?

63:02>> Yes. Okay. For both of you, both of you.

63:05>> Um I'll ask you first, Brett, to give Scott some time to think about it.

63:09>> What are you most afraid of missing out on in fantasy football this year?

63:15Um, the Chicago Bears cuz I'm >> Oh, there we go. Yes. Thank you. There's actually a sense of fear from you,

63:25Brett, because I need I need to hear this because we are getting destroyed. Sig, the the Chicago people hate us. They're they're

63:34lambasting us on >> They hate everybody. I mean, they're that's the second city, you know, and I mean, I love Chicago. I love Chicago

63:40people, but it's like a complex that, you know, we talked about like us against the world. I know Detroit versus everybody, but Chicago is like we're

63:47kind of even against ourselves.

63:48>> My buddy just moved there from New York City. He calls it uh New York City on Xanax is Chicago. And I'm like, you need

63:54to read my because I do not uh >> New York City with Midwestern with Midwestern restraint.

64:02>> Yeah. And and so like if you listen if you look at Fantasy Football Daily listeners, it's you know a ton of in the

64:10Northeast well populated in Texas. All of Illinois is just zero. We have zero Chicago listeners. They hate Brett. They hate and it's like

64:20I'm I I could see a world where they go nuclear. Like Caleb Williams, you know, I know Brett wasn't as high on him, but

64:27you had anonymous scouts and and GM saying he's the best quarterback since Andrew Luck. You have Ben Johnson who I firmly believe is like the GOAT play

64:36caller. Like sure, Kyle Shanahan's brilliant, but like this guy uh like moved divorced his wife and moved into uh the and and sleeps in in his office

64:46every night. He actually I don't think he divorces. Don't don't hold me. But he's like that's >> he's a big time family guy, Scott. He's

64:51not appreciate that. I'm sure just like a psychopath who's a a driven genius and he's saying like flat out, I want to

64:59this year break the Denver Broncos record for most points per game. You have Coloulston Lovelin who I think is like already a fringe top three tight

65:09end in the league. I don't I don't love his cost in fantasy, but I love the player. I'm very bullish on Luther

65:16Burton. Uh, and so yeah, even if Caleb Williams has his flaws, we just tweeted it out today. I thought this was a great

65:23stat. Uh, the second worst catchable throw rate from a clean pocket over the last two years. He's not been the most

65:30accurate quarterback, but he has a great coach and quarterbacks develop. And there's really a world where you get absolutely buried, Brett. And uh I feel

65:42like your punishment should be you have to buy a Caleb William Williams jersey and and wear it every day on this show

65:48uh for a full year.

65:50>> I Well, I wouldn't do it for a full year, but I would be fine with that. I because I don't root against players. I

65:54I I >> I root for myself to be wrong. Like I'm not a Caleb Williams believer. I want him to prove me wrong, though. Like I'm

66:00not anti- Caleb Williams as a person, you know?

66:02>> So, when you said the Bears, like just talk a little bit more about like what why that's what you said.

66:08>> Yeah, because I I'm not a believer in Caleb Williams. I think he's a very flawed quarterback and I don't think

66:13we've seen the improvement people are claiming we have because of the strength of schedule last year because of the fact that, you know, a lot of the

66:21situations he had to pull out these late game heroics in, they were in the situation they were because of Caleb Williams. No one wants to admit that.

66:28Whether it was, you know, inopportune turnovers or just simply not being able to run a functional offense cuz he can't, you know, complete a checkdown on

66:36on third and three. I mean, it it's truly a problem. Um, and then I so I've kind of been pretty I would say hesitant

66:44to come along on Caleb Williams. And then you know Luther Burden I thought has was a flawed prospect and I know

66:50he's developing and he he looks like he could be great and Ben Johnson has proof with the archetype proof of concept with

66:57the archetype and Aman Raw St. Brown even JMO I think Luther you look at the the role Luther Burton played last year

67:02it was more JMO than it actually was Aman Raw St. Brown. It does feel like more Aman Raw type stuff is coming this

67:08year. But either way, the proof of concept is there for both of them. So maybe he develops and and then Coulson

67:14Loveland is a guy I'm really high in. I just But as a whole, I've been lower on this offense just because of the

67:18division they play in. I think their schedule is significantly harder this year and I don't believe in Caleb Williams um to take that next step. At

67:27least I have he hasn't shown me anything that suggests he will. So I'm very just like meh. I don't think I have many

67:34shares of any Bears players. I'm just very meh. But I realize with the raw talent Caleb Williams has with the play

67:40caller they have with some of the, you know, Coulson Lovelins and a step from Luther Burn, like they could take a

67:45giant step forward, I'm just probably going to miss out on it if they do because I don't have any of these guys.

67:50Yeah, I think that when I first approached the Bears offense, and I agree with you about Caleb, you know, when I went back and watched Caleb

67:58Williams year one, I panic sold Roma Dunay for AJ Brown cuz I was like, geez, these guys are just not on the same page

68:07and this is the quarterback he's going to have for his whole rookie contract, you know? It's like, oh, this is just

68:13like queasy, you know? Um, and it didn't get that much better as a at downfield passer. You know, we had the DJ Moore

68:22issues.

68:23>> Um, and then I looked at ADP coming into this year, guys. I love to look at ADP on a team. Why? Like just look at the

68:28ADP of the whole team together as one message or one piece of information and there's just this cluster of guys in

68:36like the fourth or fifth round, you know, Loveland, Burden, Adun, and Swift.

68:41And it's almost like the fantasy football community is like, well, we somebody is gonna be good. Um, and they're and the offense is good enough

68:47that I want in on it, but I don't know.

68:50So, like one of those guys could hit and like two of them probably almost necessarily aren't going to hit. And they lost Aussie Trapo. Now, that's a

68:58big one. He was activated and is probably going to be back early in the season. And then Drew Dolman retired.

69:05That also got me bummed out. But then enter Ben Johnson, guys. I think Ben Johnson might be like transformative for fantasy football. I really do.

69:13>> It's almost like the love child of like Mc Mety Shanahan and Dan Campbell, you know, or Shawn Peyton in a way. um where

69:20you have like the old school hard ass like commitment football is not for the well adjusted like you're referring to Scott but then you have an unbelievably

69:29cerebral and nuanced approach pulling in from like psychology and science and um you know intuition and math and with all

69:41with a killer instinct with an absolute we want to to humiliate you you know we want you to want to have to he's picking

69:49fights It's WWF style with the other coaches in the division. You know, he's challenging his guys by saying stuff like, "We're going to set the record in

69:56points." That's to me that's Ben Johnson saying, "I know you guys can do this.

70:00We're going to do it. We're going to do it together." And Ryan Pagnetti, who you mentioned, said that um the play callers

70:07uh when they're looking for tendencies, anytime they think they've zeroed in on a Ben Johnson tendency, he corrects it.

70:12So, even as they're like in real time tracking, they're like, "You can't get a beat on him." When Ted Wyn, read

70:18everything Ted Win writes. Um, when when Ted Wyn asked defensive coordinators about play callers and ranked them, I think Johnson was like one or two and

70:27and one of the defensive coordinator said, "I I can't predict what he's going to do." So, one week we just like played

70:34the our base coverage seven times in a row because I thought at least he wouldn't expect that. But think about the advantage it gives you when the

70:41defensive coordinator is going into a game and saying, "I can't prepare for this team the way I normally prepare for a team." Think about that. Think about

70:48how much you're dictating to the defense how the game's going to go. Um, you have now again, so now I'm going to really

70:55like take it home and do the closing argument. Okay, DJ Moore was a net negative for this offense. He didn't want to block and he wasn't on the same

71:01page. You know, it just this is he DJ Moore is going to be fine, by the way.

71:08Um, and so there's a net positive, even if it's a Khalif Raymond taking uh DJ Moore snaps, it's a net positive for

71:15this offense that DJ Moore's gone.

71:17That's why everyone was so surprised around the league that they got a second round pick for him. Um, then you have um

71:24you have Burden and you have Adun again.

71:27You also have Khif Raymond. He he he knows this. You he Ben Johnson's like, "Oh, you don't I don't have to explain

71:33anything to you. You already know everything." And then you have Xavier Thomas who can just sprinkle in this blazing speed, maybe even as a halfback.

71:40Now you look at the tight ends.

71:42Loveland. Let me gush about him some more. Cole KT could start for like half the teams in the NFL and will start

71:46somewhere next year. Um and then Sam Roush who is a lot like that Tucker Craft Brent Strange mold, you know. um

71:57if he was athletically um if he had like longer arms, you know, was a little more like the form that teams like, he might

72:03have gone in the second round. So now you can mix and match all these three tight two tight end, three tight end

72:08sets. You can explosive run plays, explosive pass plays out of heavy sets, explosive pass plays out of light sets.

72:15But like you said, guys, it's just Caleb. And can Caleb make like a Josh Allen third-year leap? Because I think you if you're pro Caleb, you're saying

72:23it's the same career arc as Josh Allen.

72:25I don't know. But I know if someone can bring it out of him, guys, it's Ben Johnson.

72:30>> I think that's I think that's dead on.

72:32Like I think everything said Brett said is right, but it almost feels like more than an impossible to fail setup. It

72:41feels like almost an impossible not to be great setup. You know, we talk about all the most important efficiency hacks in the NFL today. Ben Johnson top three

72:52in every single one. We have metrics to look at like separation for receivers over expected or busted coverage over and it's just like yeah Ben no one is

73:02better at scheming guys open than Ben Johnson where it's like yeah Luther Burton is not the most polished route runner you know Ben Johnson can kind of

73:10cure a lot of ills. Yeah, Caleb Williams is not the most accurate quarterback. Um not the best quarterback in in rhythm.

73:20Uh yeah, it you got Ben Johnson calling the plays, throwing to Coloulston Lovel, Luther Burden behind a really good offensive line.

73:29>> You guys don't make for good therapists cuz I told you I was scared >> of missing out on the >> aversion therapy. Aversion therapy. Go

73:36into your feet. Go right into the heart of that for the fear. The answer lies at the heart of the fear. Okay, Scott.

73:41What? You can't say bears. What are you afraid of missing out on?

73:45>> Um I don't know. I I was going to say bears, but I guess that's not a good um answer. I I will say like I'm I'm really

73:56not that afraid of of anything. It's because I know I'm going to be wrong and like I I take my L's and I think that's

74:04really my my biggest strength is like I talk about this is like every year I I'm not the smartest guy in the industry at

74:14all. I but I I don't know too many people who care more than me or put as much uh effort and hard work into it.

74:21And so like I I pour over my rankings and then in January I I I my self flagagillation sessions where I I really

74:32beat myself up. I really rub my own mistakes.

74:36>> You we're not going to put pictures of Scott Barrett with black and blue like we just did of Baker Mayfield. Please. I

74:42mean, if if we do, we need to talk cuz you might be taking certain things a little too much time, >> right? So, I I mean, like I think the

74:48best the best path like any athlete will tell you is just be like even keeled all the time. Don't get too high in the

74:54highs. Don't get too low in the I kind of enjoy the roller coaster. And so, yeah, January I beat myself up, but then

74:59I learn from it. And so, uh, you know, it's it's it's really instances where I'm I'm like if I'm if I'm wrong for the

75:09right reasons, I I won't beat myself up too much. It's really the instances where because a lot of it is luck and

75:14and whatnot. It's it's being wrong for the wrong reasons that but but even that is again it's there's you're you're never wrong. You're you're always

75:22learning. It's like that's mindset.

75:24Yeah, >> on on Dynasty Compass with uh Jeff Bllelock this week when I recorded with him. That seemed to be a theme that kept

75:29coming up again and again and again, guys. Is like it's not bad to make mistakes. It's bad to not learn from

75:34your mistakes, not not examine and self.

75:37So, tell me something. I'll I'll do a twist so I can get something substantive from you. Tell me something last year

75:42that you were wrong for the wrong reasons.

75:45>> That's a good question.

75:46>> Well, you know, it's actually funny. I was I I've been looking back over last year's Exodas and the one that stands out as the worst

75:56Exodia call of all time, it's what the subscri subscribers say, was Kenneth Walker. And so I I have my theories on

76:03why I was wrong about Kenneth Walker, but I I'd like >> share them.

76:07>> So, >> you want me to tell you first? I'll tell you I'll tell you I'll tell you where it all went wrong with Kenneth Walker. He

76:12practiced four times and I think it was Mike McDonald who said, "Zack Charbanet is everything we want in a running back.

76:17easier every day.

76:20>> I had sources with, you know, one of Seattle's beat writers that h don't worry about it. It's nothing. But there

76:26was also the the ESPN beat writer was like, "No, this is not nothing."

76:29>> I think Brady Henderson. Yeah. Like this is a committee.

76:32>> Yeah. Yeah. And it's also like his I I like refuse to believe it because Kenneth Walker is so much better than

76:38Zack Sharbon. I think we saw that. I think we saw that. But it's like that in tandem with, you know, his uh injury

76:46history and the fact that Seattle had Super Bowl aspirations and we're >> maybe a little the Greg Rosenthal stuff about personalities and relationships.

76:54Gre but but because whenever I mean I don't like to speculate, okay, but maybe Mike

77:05McDonald thought Kenneth Walker could have practiced more than four times in the summer. Oh, that's >> because he emphasized that Jack Sharon

77:13is exactly what we want a running back.

77:14He's here every day, you know.

77:17>> Dang, that's cutting deep.

77:19>> But that's it, guys. I mean, that's the stuff in fantasy football. Look, and I'm not saying you should act decisively

77:23when this stuff happens, but be open to it. So when the first few data points come in and you're arguing with it,

77:28you're like, "No, that like sometimes assumption rational coaching lets us down because it's not decisions based on cold analysis of who adds more value to

77:37their touches in terms of broken tackles and breakaway runs and things like that.

77:40It's a organization. Think about every workplace you've ever worked at in your life. Is everything a meritocracy? Do all the is everybody does the people

77:47that get promoted all the best people and the people in charge are the people that should be in charge, etc., etc.,

77:51etc." No. It's a workplace like any other workplace. So, we want to look for these clues. Um, and coaches will tell

77:59us stuff without telling us stuff. You know, he wasn't going to call out Kenneth Walker, but he wasn't going to say, "I love Zach Charban. He does

78:06everything we want running back. He's here every day." And when you see that also beat writers, there's so much stuff, guys, since they said you can't

78:15share like play designs and so on, you know, some teams are super paranoid about it >> that beat writers have to tell us stuff

78:21without telling us stuff, you know? So when you're like that's just speculation. He that's just his opinion.

78:27Know the track record of that beat writer.

78:29>> Yeah.

78:30>> And know if like they're trying to tell you like if Matt Mayoko says something I'm like oh I better pay attention to

78:35that. If Mike Reese says something I better pay attention. Nick Underh Hill we mentioned a couple time you know. So I think that to me that's like the

78:42skeleton key to understand what went wrong. Now what makes it fun for this year is the Chiefs obviously believe the Seahawks like wronged him. You know the

78:51Chiefs are like no no you're our dude.

78:52like 350 touches, ride or die. You know, uh Mahomes is coming back from a knee injury. We're going to give you 25

78:59carries. We're going to throw screen passes. We're going to do all this stuff that you know, you now he's never stayed

79:03healthy under a heavy workload in his career. And he doesn't exactly play in a way with regard for his own health,

79:10which is kind of cool for fantasy, but also kind of sucks. Um, and I think that this is a really fun referendum for

79:16Seattle who's saying like, "No, we'd rather spend a first round pick on a backup running back from college who's even more of an unknown and pay him that

79:25first round salary than pay Kenneth Walker." Whereas the Chiefs are saying, and and the thing about Kenneth Walker where this all could change, guys, is

79:33enter Eric Benemy.

79:35Yeah, Eric Benemy is that dude like you want to you you could totally imagine.

79:40I'm getting tingles because I feel like I was in the room, right? Like, can't you imagine Eric Benemy and Andy Reid

79:46and Patrick Mahomes and Kenneth Walker and Kenneth Walker getting ready to sign a contract, you know? And Eric Bene is like, "Just so you know, I'm going to

79:54kick your ass." You know, like Eric Benny, he's like, like, "Welcome to the team. I'm going to kick your ass every

79:59day. You ready? I'm going to kick your ass every single day." So, you know, that's where I think the story could

80:06change with Kenneth Walker. And that's why I'm dabbling in the second round with Kenneth Walker, but also I used him as a stepping stone to Bjon Robinson in

80:16a dynasty league. I traded Kenneth Walker and Jamar Chase for Bjon Robinson and Mecha Ibuka because I think we could as soon as Kenneth Walker gets hurt,

80:24we're going to be like, "Yep, he's an injuryprone running back and that's who he's going to be." Maybe he won't, but hurt players tend to get hurt. Well,

80:32this was awesome.

80:33>> People hurt people and hurt tend to get hurt.

80:36>> Yep. Tautologies often have truth.

80:40>> Love it. Sig, uh, thank you so much for coming on the show. Can you tell the people where they can find you if they

80:45don't already know? I'm sure they do, but go ahead.

80:47>> Yeah, football guys, you know, football guys. Football guys, you like we still hold court on the Twitter, you know, because it's our it's our community.

80:53It's like the party line for people who remember what that is. You know, you pick it up the phone, there's someone to

80:57talk to. You don't you're not lonely.

80:59Um, but this is great guys and I look forward to all of our future. But Brett, you'll be here on the couch soon, Scott.

81:05You know, you're you're couch OG. Um, and um, as Scott and I got to hang and he picked the one one of turtle names,

81:14the one um, tell I say Melky, how do you say it?

81:18>> MelkiseDC. It's a biblical name.

81:20>> MelkiseDC.

81:22>> I My wife and I talking about like future baby names. I'm like, I would love Melkisedc. It's so awesome. you

81:28call milky and she's like absolutely not. So I had to settle for naming sig baby turtle.

81:34>> He he found a baby turtle. He came our turtle garden. He found a baby turtle.

81:38They hatch in in August and you find the turtle you get to name it. Um but it's really just guys the excuse for us to be

81:44in each other's lives and be there for each other however we can because that's you know fantasy sports is awesome and

81:51it's so stimulating to share space with so many live minds and cross-pollinate all this stuff. But really, it's the affinity I think we we gain for each

81:59other over the years uh doing this uh and sharing this space with each other that is what I most look forward to.

82:06>> Awesome. Well, that's going to do it for this episode of Fantasy Football Daily.

82:11Thank you to SIG and thank you for everyone listening in. We are out.

More episodes from Fantasy Points Fantasy Football

6

Don't Draft Yet! 10 Must-Know Preseason Fantasy Football Takeaways (Week 2 Recap) artwork

Don't Draft Yet! 10 Must-Know Preseason Fantasy Football Takeaways (Week 2 Recap)

Aug 24, 2026

10 Ways To DOMINATE Your League - The #1 Draft Strategy in 2026 Fantasy Football artwork

10 Ways To DOMINATE Your League - The #1 Draft Strategy in 2026 Fantasy Football

Aug 21, 2026

Should We AVOID DRAFTING This First Round RB in 2026 Fantasy Football? artwork

Should We AVOID DRAFTING This First Round RB in 2026 Fantasy Football?

Aug 20, 2026

Win Your League with Scott Barrett's Tight End Rankings and Tiers (2026 Fantasy Football Sleepers) artwork

Win Your League with Scott Barrett's Tight End Rankings and Tiers (2026 Fantasy Football Sleepers)

Aug 19, 2026

How Much Did the Preseason Change About Fantasy Football in 2026? artwork

How Much Did the Preseason Change About Fantasy Football in 2026?

Aug 18, 2026

Projections Expert Answers Fantasy Football's Biggest Questions artwork

Projections Expert Answers Fantasy Football's Biggest Questions

Aug 14, 2026